'This is beyond empathy': Do these amazing conjoined twin girls share ONE mind?

By FIONA ROBERTS

Incredible bond: Conjoined twins Krista and Tatiana Hogan are joined at the skull, but they may also share one mind thanks to a unique neural link which effectively allows them to see with each others' eyes


Like any twins, the Hogans have their differences - for a start, four-year-old Krista loves tomato ketchup, but her sister Tatiana hates it.

Except their mother only knows that because one day when Krista was happily eating the sauce, Tatiana made a face and tried to scrape it off her tongue - even though she hadn't touched a drop.

It's just one of the remarkable incidents which have astonished doctors in British Columbia treating the conjoined twins, who say they may have a unique neural link which means they share one mind.


Astonishing: Krista, right, can correctly name the soft toy her mother shows to her twin sister Tatiana - even though she cannot see it. They have quite different personalities, and Krista is the bossier of the two


They believe the sisters share a part of the brain called the thalamus, which sends physical sensations and motor functions to the cerebral cortex.

In other words, they are effectively able to see through each other's eyes - and perhaps even hear each others' thoughts.

In an in-depth interview with the New York Times their mother, Felicia Simms, revealed how when one twin has her eyes covered, she can identify what the other one sees - and they even respond with a 'whoa' as if they are full when the other one drinks too much juice.


Unique girls: When one of the girls drinks, the other one will put a hand on her own stomach - despite not touching a drop. Each one can also seemingly taste something the other is eating


Shared mind? The girls are believed to have a unique thalamic bridge, in which they share the part of the brain which controls sensory perception

source: dailymail

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Superslim Princess Beatrice keeps shedding pounds thanks to 'water and fruit diet'

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Slim Bea: Princess Beatrice cuts a svelte figure compared with pictures of her in a larger frock of similar hue she wore two years ago, right


Does Princess Beatrice's yo-yo figure know no bounds?

The 22-year-old, who has struggled with her weight in the past, turned more than a few heads this weekend with her incredibly svelte figure, which appears to have shrunk further than ever.

Beatrice, who shed 2st before last year’s London Marathon, showed off her even slimmer frame as she attended a polo event at Cowdray Park in West Sussex wearing a short blue belted cocktail dress.

It was a dramatic contrast with a larger frock of similar hue she wore two years ago.


Young love: Beatrice was at the event with boyfriend Dave Clark

She now looks at least two sizes smaller, and credits a fitness regime based on exercise, lots of water and plenty of fruit and vegetables, with keeping the weight off.

Speaking about the pictures, she said at the time: 'I could probably do with losing the odd pound though, so perhaps it's the kick I need.

'It was such an unflattering bikini and I've got one that's so much nicer, so I could have kicked myself for wearing it.

'I thought people were a bit mean, although I know it comes with the territory.
'The trouble is, I don't have much confidence so it can be quite upsetting.'


Inspired: It was the unflattering pictures of the princess on a beach in St Barts that spurred her on to lose two stone and run the London Marathon as part of a charity team tied together


There has been no let up this year for the princess, who took part in the Windsor half marathon in September.

She managed to complete the run in a very respectable two hours and 16 minutes.

Then, in April she completed the London Marathon with her American boyfriend David Clark as part of a charity team tied together.

They formed a human caterpillar of 34 people who ran the 26.2mile course together along with Sir Richard Branson's two children Sam and Holly.


source: dailymail

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22-stone bride-to-be orders size 12 wedding dress... and then SLIMS to squeeze into it

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Beautiful bride: Beth Wheeler lost 10 stone ahead of her wedding so that she could fit into her dream dress


Almost all brides try to slim down a little ahead of their big day. However Beth Wheeler was more dedicated to her diet plan than most.

The 36-year-old weighed 22 stone when she got engaged.

But she ordered a size 12 wedding dress and put herself on a strict diet so she could shed 10 stone and fit into her dream gown a little more than a year later.

She embarked on a healthy eating and living campaign and shed more than half her body weight to reach her target of 12 stone just four days before her wedding at Halswell House near Bridgwater, Somerset.


In his wedding speech, James joked: 'When you get married you often get more than you expected, well I'm getting less'


'Anyone who has ever tried to lose weight will know that you can do it on your own for a few weeks but then easily become fed up so having something to aim for kept me focused.'

Beth weighed 22st 1lb when she joined her Weight Watchers group in April 2009.

The weight began to fall off steadily and she ordered her stunning wedding gown in October 2010, telling the seamstress that she aimed to be a size 12 on her wedding day.

Beth even managed to resist the temptations of festive food over the Christmas period and went on to shed the pounds through to her wedding day.

She was delighted when she stepped on the scales on February 20 this year - and found she had finally reached her goal of 12st.


source: dailymail

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22-stone bride-to-be orders size 12 wedding dress... and then SLIMS to squeeze into it

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Beautiful bride: Beth Wheeler lost 10 stone ahead of her wedding so that she could fit into her dream dress


Almost all brides try to slim down a little ahead of their big day. However Beth Wheeler was more dedicated to her diet plan than most.

The 36-year-old weighed 22 stone when she got engaged.

But she ordered a size 12 wedding dress and put herself on a strict diet so she could shed 10 stone and fit into her dream gown a little more than a year later.

She embarked on a healthy eating and living campaign and shed more than half her body weight to reach her target of 12 stone just four days before her wedding at Halswell House near Bridgwater, Somerset.


In his wedding speech, James joked: 'When you get married you often get more than you expected, well I'm getting less'


'Anyone who has ever tried to lose weight will know that you can do it on your own for a few weeks but then easily become fed up so having something to aim for kept me focused.'

Beth weighed 22st 1lb when she joined her Weight Watchers group in April 2009.

The weight began to fall off steadily and she ordered her stunning wedding gown in October 2010, telling the seamstress that she aimed to be a size 12 on her wedding day.

Beth even managed to resist the temptations of festive food over the Christmas period and went on to shed the pounds through to her wedding day.

She was delighted when she stepped on the scales on February 20 this year - and found she had finally reached her goal of 12st.


source: dailymail

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'Terrible coincidence': Father and son, 3, may both need heart transplants due

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Unlucky: Frasier Rusling essentially has half a heart, while his father Simon is suffering from heart failure. The conditions are unrelated


A father has been told he needs a heart transplant just weeks after discovering his three-year-old son may need the same life-saving operation.

Simon Rusling, 31, was told he needed life-saving surgery and a possible transplant after doctors found out the arteries of his heart were in the wrong position.

His son Frasier has a serious non-hereditary heart defect that means he essentially has half a heart.

Mr Rusling said: 'Doctors have told us mine and Frasier's conditions are not linked or hereditary, it's just a terrible coincidence.'


Little fighter: Frasier has received treatment from a children's heart ward at Leeds General Infirmary - but it may close due to budget cuts


He and his wife Anita were delighted when Frasier was born in January 2008, but their joy turned to fear about a heart expert told them Frasier had a pulmonary atresia - a form of congenital heart disease in which the pulmonary valve does not form properly.

The little battler, who also has a hypo-plastic right ventricle, underwent surgery for the first time aged just two weeks to have a tube put into his chest to link his lungs and his heart to improve the oxygen supply.

Frasier went back in October 2009 for a second operation to fit a bigger tube and it was then that Simon discovered he was ill.

Former taxi company owner Simon, from Doncaster, went to see doctors after being unable to eat and losing three-and-a-half stone in just three weeks.

He initially put it down to the stress of Frasier's illness but doctors told him he had heart failure and would need a complicated operation involving new valves and chambers.

In the future he will need a heart transplant, because his arteries are the wrong way round, but doctors are delaying the operation as long as possible because the new heart would only be expected to work for 25 to 30 years.


source: dailymail

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